Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1887-09-01
ABOUT "CoRNERS."

/ t\oOOb ~OnN60Ss
Tho Principle ON which They Are Ensin.
| eered by Greedy SpeculatoEs.
Within short time two famous
corners have collapsed-if that is .
proper verb to use to describe the de-
feat of the men who managed the
corners" The principle on which
corner is engineered is this: the specu-
lators who make it buy or get control
of all there is in the market of any
particular commodity. and thus they
force those who must have a supply of
that commodity to pay whatever price
they choose to fix Sometimes the
stock of a railroad company is con-
cerned, and those who have sold that
stock ''short" that is. sold stock
which they do not yet own. must buy
of those who have all the stock there
is to sell. and pay fancy prices for it
In two recent cases, coffee and wheat
were the articles cornered. BY the
buying of one cornering clique, the
market price of coffee was run up to a
fabulous rate; the spectators who
dealt in wheat accepted all offers to
deliver wheat at Chicago during the
month of June at a steadily advancing
price. Each corner failed disastrously,
and for the same reason. The specu-
lators miscalculated, or were badly in
formed as to the supply of the article
they tried to control. The coffee crop
was better than thar information led
them to suppose. aud a much larger
quantity of wheas was carried into
Chicago than IL had been sup
posed possible to collect. Consequent
| ly. the funds of the spectators gave
out. Then the ''bears," or those who
thought the prices should decline. in
GLIDING all who were not in the corner,
sold boldly. Prices came down by the
run. First the paper profits. and then
the capital of the cornering specu-
lators. were wiped out, and the sham
'bulr' movement was at an end. In
the case of the wheat speculation tho
| disaster involved one or two banks.
and inflicted mortal blow upon the
reputation for financial integrity OF
some men who have heretofore stood
| high in the esteem of brother mer-
chants. In both cases bankruptcy and
ruin were the fate of the leaders of the
cliques, who had hoped to make them
selves enormously rich by single
stroke of fortune.
In all the discussions upon these
events not voice of sympathy has
been raised. so far as we have OBJ.
served. in behalf of the spectators
who attempted to advance prices
artifically. They served absolutely no
useful purpose whatever. They were
simply betting upon the supply of coffee
and wheat. If they had been right in
their calculations. and had made as
much money as they hoped to make,
they would merely have taken it out
of the pocket of consumers of wheat
and coffee. 1t is not perhaps. very
wrong for a merchat who foresees that
there is to be short supply of the
goods in which he deals, to in-
crease his stock and hold it for
the rise. That is legitimate specu-
lation. But attempts to control the
market by making the supply artificial
" short are bad acts. and none but
those who lose are sorry when they
fail.
To say nothing of its effect upon tho
people who engage in it-for it is
gambling. and nothing elisa corner
is highly injurious to ordinary trade.
Take it in the case of wheat. The pros
perity of the country depends largely
upon the amount Of breadstuffs that
can be marketed abroad. A corner
raises the price of wheat so high that
it can not be scid for shipment.
and the export trade is stopped. This is
but single example of the evil working
of a corner. for it is unmitigatedly bad
in every way. Fortunately the attempt
to make corner seldom succeeds. A
few years ago an American cornered
cotton in the English market and
cleared an enormous sum thereby; but
he was tempted to try again. and lost
it all.
We know of one case Of young man
who had Inherited large fortune. and
threw it away in an unsuccessful cor
ner in railroad stock. OF course, only
those who have wealth. and can also
borrow large amounts Of money. can
undertake corner. The melting away
of fortunes in foolish speculations is
one of the ways in which capital is
scattered and the accumulation of too
great wealth is prevented. YOUTHS
Compdnt0a
NO GETTING OVER IT.